Title: Linger at the door
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Characters/Pairing: Kirk, Spock, Uhura (pre Kirk/Spock, Spock/Uhura, variations therein)
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,200 words
Spoilers: The 2009 movie, and possibly a very little of the original canon.
Summary: One month is the longest he will have gone without a first officer since he had one to miss.

Given adequate distractions, and without anything to force him into it, Jim is quite happy to go years without thinking too much about whatever is troubling him.

Now, space is admittedly full of very pretty distractions, both on and off the ship. But the distractions off-ship takes time to get to and from, and he (probably) shouldn't be distracting himself on the ship. Not that it stops Spock and Uhura.

They are forcing him into thinking about it. Jim watches them on the transporter pads. It's a restrained kind of passion, but not an absent one. It's sort of beautiful, he thinks absently: the way she leans up to Spock with a gentle hand, the way he unfolds enough to lean down and stroke her face. Jim coughs.

There's no satisfaction in watching them pull apart. They were – both – entirely unsurprised by Jim's sudden presence. Mildly put out by the interruption, at best. "Captain," they say, overlapping, and, okay, it might be more than 'mildly' in Uhura's case.

Spock looks at him. "I'll be leaving in a moment, Captain."

"I know, that's why I… a whole month?"

Spock's expression shifts, barely noticeable. He steps off the transporter. "Yes."

"All right. Well I'll make sure to have the ship back for you then."

Jim takes a step forward, halfway to sticking his hand out, or patting Spock's shoulder, as he might do with Bones. But it's not the appropriate gesture. The other Spock had used the formal farewell – hand held aloft, the words sure and certain. As though it was something he had done many times over, wishing Kirk farewell. Easy.

But Jim had that hand pressed to his skin bare hours beforehand. Emotional transference is an unavoidable part of the process. That Spock had greeted him fondly, but without surprise, or excitement. Except that Jim knows, he can remember now, every goodbye that was ripped from them. The other him and Spock. He knows there was more to the words than the rote farewell. That Spock had been missing another James Kirk for a very long time.

Meanwhile his Sp- this Spock. This Spock is still looking at him.

"Don't-" Jim begins and stops. "You shouldn't go. The colony isn't secure yet, anything could happen. And I've had enough of rescue missions for a lifetime."

"The probability of-" Spock starts to answer without loss of composure. He is coolly-calm, or had been before, where the other had been more… serene. Warmth under the tranquil countenance. One is probably due to turn to the other eventually, but they're both a cover for whatever's beneath. Jim knows that now.

One month is the longest he will have gone without a first officer since he had one to miss. He is not yet used to small aggravations of day-to-day command, to the odd deference of the crewmembers who don't know him well enough yet. But he is used to Spock at his shoulder, and the way he turns to speak to Jim alone.

This will be farthest he has been from Spock (his Spock) since he was stranded on the snow, since hands were pressed to his face: look. He saw himself watching Spock die, heard the news of his own death through Spock's ears. Images gone in an instant (not the point of the lesson, not as far as Jim knows) and they're the partings of another universe. In this universe, anything could happen. A hundred thousand ways things could go wrong this time round that went right the time before. (A decimated cadet class, a newly endangered species). Jim knows that there is no law that forces the universe to give you the time that you should have with the people that matter.

Spock takes another step towards Jim.

"All right," Jim says slowly. "So, I guess I should…" He nods back towards the door, away from this.

Spock looks at Jim. He raises his hand very deliberately, fingers parting in an easy, familiar gesture. "Live long, and prosper."

Jim's gaze jumps from Spock's hand to his face. He takes a step closer. "And all I need to- I just say it back, right?"

Amusement dances briefly across Spock's face, settling in his eyes. It's like an honest-to-God miracle, now of all times. Spock repeats solemnly, "You just say it back."

Jim's fingers don't bend that way easily, but he manages. "Live long, and prosper, Spock," he says.

They're close enough that their hands would be touching if either of them took another step.

Jim coughs, and steps away. "At least until you're back where you're supposed to be, which is on the bridge of my goddamn ship. Starfleet isn't paying you to go flying off around the galaxy wherever you want."

"No," Spock agrees, "I believe that's what they're paying you for."

Uhura's laughter surprises Jim. It's a regular woman's laugh – a musical almost-giggle, cut off when she realises it was out loud. It's like magic.

"Anyway," Jim says, "you two go back to whatever you were doing. Not for too long. I need to get this ship around and back again, remember."

He turns to walk away.

"Jim," Spock says.

Jim looks back.

"I'll return in one month," Spock says.

"One month," Jim says, "Or I give Uhura your job."

"I believe that would be an excellent choice, Captain," Spock returns.

This time Jim does grin, and pat Spock's arm, and walk away.

He can hear them talking behind him. He has an adequate grasp of language, but doesn't need it for this: he can pick out the interrogative in her voice. What was that? Spock either doesn't reply, or doesn't speak loud enough for Jim to hear.

There's the sound of the transporter, and then light steps hurrying to catch up with him. Uhura falls into pace beside him.

Uhura says, "Please tell me you're not going to start an interplanetary conflict just to prove that your first officer shouldn't be allowed to take leave."

He's about to rail around, angered, because he's the Captain of the Enterprise, a Starfleet officer, and George Kirk's son. He wouldn't betray any of those.

But he looks, and she is smiling, so he only says, "Nah. Maybe a minor diplomatic incident. Spock's good at diplomacy. Has to be, right, if he ended up an Ambassador?"

"We're not in that universe," Uhura says, as though he has to be reminded. "But yes, he can manage diplomacy. Someone needs to be able to-"

"You too, though," Jim says. "I'm spoiled, with this crew."

"Maybe they thought you would need the extra help," she retorts. They've reached the bridge, and she smiles at him one more time before returning to her post.

Jim nods answers to the greetings he receives.

Bones leans over his shoulder. "Everything go all right?"

"Yeah," Jim says. He nods at Uhura, grinning. "Though if the lovebirds had taken any longer, we would have ended up beaming him while at warp speed, and I'm not convinced about that sanity of that one yet."

Scotty frowns, and Jim shrugs apologetically.

He takes the chair. Sulu and Chekov both turn to look at him, Sulu expectant, Chekov smiling brightly. Jim nods. "Prepare for warp."

There's plenty of room for things to go wrong in a month. Plenty of heads that might come down tails. Jim just won't let them. And if worse comes to worst, well, he's prepared to cheat a little to keep the universe on track.

FIN. Comments welcome